Matt Kemp

This is not going to be fair, OK? The only thing truly comparable is the name, though that is rather significant. On the surface, it seems reasonable. Comparing Matt Kemp's first 18 games this season to last. That's fair, right? Only last April, Kemp was off to one of baseball's greatest starts. This year, he's scuffling through one of his worst individual periods. Through 18 games last year: .455 batting average with nine homers and 22 runs batted in, with .513 on-base and .924 slugging percentages.

Now not to scare you, or get carried away, or really even try to suggest anything dire is at hand, but it still needs to be said that Matt Kemp is seriously scuffling. And he has been for the last week, and it could even be argued, for most of the spring. Kemp has three hits in his last 23 at-bats, with 12 strikeouts. Kemp was 0 for 3 on Tuesday in the Dodgers' 4-1 victory over the Angels, striking out twice, grounding into a double play and driving in a run with a sacrifice fly. Kemp is hitting a decent enough .266 and is tied with Juan Rivera for second on the team with 12 RBIs this spring.

SAN DIEGO -- As the Dodgers were leaving Petco Park on Thursday, Matt Kemp ran into the player who sent him into a rage earlier in the night: Carlos Quentin. In a hallway between the home and visiting clubhouses, Kemp stood face to face and exchanged angry words with Quentin, who charged the mound and broke Zack Greinke's collarbone in the sixth inning of the Dodgers' 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres. "If a guy's throwing at your head …" Quentin said. PHOTOS: Dodgers vs. Padres Kemp ordered Quentin not to point his finger at him. Kemp and Quentin were guided away from each other by their respective teammates, with Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez and Padres pitcher Clayton Richard playing the role of the peacemakers.

These days, the Dodgers have to take roll before every game just to make sure they can field a healthy team. They need to hire someone full time just to keep up with their injury report. Here's Thursday's pregame report, subject to change at a moment's notice: - Closer Kenley Jansen was seeing a cardiologist before the game to help him and the Dodgers determine the best course of action for the recurrence of his heart arrhythmia. “We're not really sure on Kenley,” said Manager Don Mattingly.

There are good problems to have, bad ones and Matt Kemp ones. He could go either way this month, turn into a godsend for the playoffs or a disgruntled player. Kemp is currently rehabbing his latest injury at the Dodgers' training facility in Phoenix after going 0-for-18 with seven strikeouts in a rehab assignment at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. His sprained ankle - injured in a belated slide just one game off the disabled list - apparently is sound, it's his swing that is having trouble coming around.

For more than an hour and a half Saturday night, the Dodgers had to sit and wait. The reason? A set of lights above the first base line at Rangers Ballpark had to be repaired. With a scoreless tie after five innings and nothing else to do, Matt Kemp spent time catching up with family members seated near the visiting dugout. Juan Pierre watched a feature on the Negro Leagues on the stadium's scoreboard. Andre Ethier retreated to the clubhouse, where he read a magazine.

Matt Kemp came to Don Mattingly's defense Friday in light of the mounting speculation regarding the manager's job status. "He doesn't go out there and hit for us, pitch for us, field for us, run for us," Kemp said. "It's not his fault that we're losing. It's the players. " The Dodgers are in last place in the National League West. "All he can do is talk to us and help us out," Kemp said. "That's it. " As much as the Dodgers players like and respect Mattingly, Kemp said rumors about his possible dismissal wouldn't be a distraction.

Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp, sidelined with a right hamstring injury since May 30, experienced a mild setback in his recovery, Manager Don Mattingly said Sunday. Kemp, who has been working out with the team after rehabbing recently at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., was expected to return to the active roster Friday. “We've hit a little bit of a snag because he felt just a little something today still,” Mattingly said. The medical staff will watch Kemp run Sunday and assess his status.

PHOENIX -- Say what you want about these Dodgers, but they sure don't lack for confidence. Matt Kemp said Wednesday morning he could "definitely" beat Magic Johnson in a one-on-one game of basketball. Kemp was a standout basketball player in high school. "Probably not back in the day," Kemp said, laughing. "I'd definitely take him one-on-one now. I don't think he's shooting hoops no more. He's wearing suits now. He's writing my checks. " Dee Gordon, another former high school basketball player, said he was also confident he could beat the 52-year-old Johnson.

San Diego Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin, who broke the collarbone of Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke in an on-field fight Thursday night in San Diego, has been suspended for eight games. Dodgers utility player Jerry Hairston Jr. was suspended for one game. Quentin was suspended for "his actions, which included charging the mound and inciting the bench-clearing incident," according to a statement from Major League Baseball. PHOTOS: Dodgers vs. Padres Neither of the other two players to get ejected -- Greinke and Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp -- were suspended.